September 4, 2010

BRYANT VOLLEYBALL SPLITS AT HARVARD INVITATIONAL, TOPS UNH 3-1 IN NIGHTCAP

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After a heartbreaking five-set loss to Harvard early Saturday afternoon, the Bryant University volleyball team rebounded with a vengeance against the University of New Hampshire, taking a 3-1 win to earn a split in the final day of the Harvard Invitational.

The split gave the Bulldogs (4-3) a 1-2 record on the weekend, while junior Maria Scocca (Melrose, Mass.) earned all-tournament honors for the Black and Gold, recording 39 kills on the two-day invitational.

Big wins in the second and third set (25-18 and 25-22) gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 edge over the host Crimson in the first matchup of the day, setting up a fourth game that would force five extra points before either team would earn the win.

In the fourth – a set that featured no less than 15 ties – neither team led by more than two points the entire way. But it was Harvard (1-1) who finally broke a 28-28 deadlock with consecutive points, earning the win and forcing a fifth and final set on the afternoon.

The teams traded leads throughout the fifth, but Bryant's 12th point in the first-to-15 shortened set would be its last, as the Crimson's Teresa Skelly, Sandra Fryhofer, Jennifer Martin and Natalie Doyle recording four-straight kills for the 15-12 win and 3-2 match victory.

Skelly and Fryhofer paced Harvard with 12 kills apiece on the contest, but they were no match for Scocca, whose 17 kills were a match high. Classmate Jazmin Stoner (Durango, Colo.) chipped in for 10 kills of her own and added 11 digs to earn her second double-double of the season (She would get her third in the nightcap against UNH.), while sophomore Jadith Lorenzo (Lawrence, Mass.) dished out 33 assists to compliment 14 digs for her third-straight double-double effort (fourth of the year). Senior captain Robyn Gardner (Lake Brantley, Fla.) led the Black and Gold defense with 17 digs.

But the Bulldogs refused to leave Cambridge on a loss, taking their frustrations out on a Wildcat (2-4) side that saw a 1-0 match lead quickly disappear in Saturday's nightcap.

Stoner and Scocca again paced Bryant on offense, totaling 12 and 10 kills, respectively, while Stoner recorded the Bulldogs' only double-double of the match with 10 digs.

UNH's Lauren Laquerre led the contest with 19 kills, but it wouldn't be enough to earn her side the victory, as the Wildcats took a 25-16 win in the first set just to fall to the Bulldogs in the next three games, 25-21, 25-22 and 25-20.

Gardner again led her side defensively with another 17 digs, while three other Bulldogs chipped in 10+ digs on the outing. Lorenzo added 30 more assists, amassing 63 on the day. Gardner and Macy Mitravich (Waimanalo, Hawaii) both posted five aces on the pair of matches, leading the way to 18 from the team on the afternoon.

Bryant's freshman class again excelled in the just the second tournament of the 2010 season, led by 23 kills from Mariah Burgess (Urbana, Ill.) and 21 from Kendall Gaffney (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who paced the rookie ranks. Burgess's eight blocks – six of them coming in Saturday action – were bested only by Scocca's 10 on the weekend. Nicole Percz (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.) added seven blocks of her own (15 kills), while Lorenzo chipped in seven aces on the two-day invitational. Saturday's action also featured the collegiate debut of Alexandria Clyburn (Cartersville, Ga.), who recorded a kill against the Wildcats.

The Bulldogs have five days off before returning to Smithfield for their home opener, the 2010 Bryant Invitational. Bryant will play four matches on the weekend, hosting Navy (4 p.m.) and Manhattan College (8 p.m.) on Friday evening before playing Holy Cross (12 p.m.) and Boston College (7 p.m.) to close out the tournament.